Page 73 of Pay the Piper

I wish there was a way to pull her as closely as I want to, but even squeezing her to my heart isn’t enough. She lives there; she has to know it belongs to her. I’ll spend my life showing her how much she means to me.

“Oh, my love…there is a woman I can’t live without. A woman whose absence makes it hard to breathe, and whose presence fills my heart with joy. You give me a reason to live, lesnaya. My dreams, which were once filled with darkness, are now filled with hope. I see a life filled with laughter and happiness. Matching pajamas, trips with just the two of us. Squabbles and makeup sex, tons of magnets for our fridge. It’s going to be beautiful, darling. Full of love. Full, I hope, of children and family. And it’s all because of you.”

Tears well in her eyes once more as I kiss her brow, cupping her face in my hands and forcing her attention on me. I need her to see the truth in my eyes as she hears it.

“I love you, Abby.”

Chapter 28

“I love you, Abby.”

The tears I tried to hold back fall freely down my face onto Misha’s hands, where he cups my cheeks. His gaze pierces every barrier and speaks directly to my soul, confirming his words. He loves me.

I know what it feels like to be loved, and I know what it feels like not to be loved. And as I sit here snuggled up to this man, I know this is the former.

He wipes my wet cheeks and opens his mouth. I think he means to say something, but I’m taking it as an invitation instead. I crash my lips to his, kissing him with as much passion as I can muster. I love you, I love you, I love you. I hope he can feel it because I can’t bring myself to pull back long enough to say it.

I’m bundled in his arms at this point, but it’s not close enough. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull my body taut against his. I lower one of my hands under his shirt and hold tight to his shoulder while my other hand grips his soft, dark locks. I don’t even know where his hands are. I know he only had two last time I checked, but I somehow feel his touch everywhere.

Pulling back when the last drop of air is gone from my lungs, I search his gaze. “I love you too.”

He flips me over on the couch in a blink and takes my mouth once more while tearing at my clothes. Most of the time, I’m desperate not to have any fabric separating us, but I’m too lost in this kiss to notice. Nothing else exists at this moment. There is only Misha. But God, the weight of his presence rivals that of the stars. He is my sun, my beacon. He’s the light and warmth giving life to a lost soul who never thought it would be found again.

I worship him, pray to my sun, as have the thousands of civilizations before me. Until that all-too-familiar stretch changes everything. Instead of two separate entities, we are one. One galaxy soaring through the universe, transcending space and time.

Our kiss never breaks, so my normally vocal man is silent for once. But I don’t need his words. I love you, I love you, I love you. It’s sent in waves, like an invisible connection straight from his mind to my own, flooding not only my conscience but my entire being.

This is what making love is. It’s more than just sexual stimulation. It’s pleasure that runs through every cell in my body. It’s pure euphoria that flows through my veins, that I feel in my bones. That I feel in my soul. That’s it. That’s the difference. It’s not just physical pleasure but emotional as well, and the combination is otherworldly.

We go on like this for hours, the only sign of the passage of time being the light filtering in from the windows, shifting from one side of the penthouse to the other. The intimacy of the day has been all consuming, and as we lie together, connected still by Misha’s half-hard cock, it feels like all of my hopes and dreams have been laid bare tonight. Whether spoken or unspoken, every bit of my soul has been bared to him, and he’s shown me his own in turn. The sweat and tears between us have left us covered in a sheen that’s the perfect evidence of our love, and when he shifts his hips slightly, I feel the heat that he’s been stoking all night burning within me again.

“Misha,” I groan. “I need you.”

He rises to the challenge immediately, smirking into my neck where he’s been nibbling and whispering in Russian, prayer-like cadences that I can’t imagine are anything but sweet-nothings. As he hardens once again inside me, he sucks my neck harder, no doubt trying to leave a mark. Caveman.

“Is that right? My needy girl. How many times is this? I lost count after six. Are you not sore?”

He tests the waters with a shallow thrust, and I hiss in pleasure and in pain.

“I am sore, but the ache is worse. Please.”

“Mmm, you know I can’t deny you. How do you want me, lesnaya?”

How do I want him?

There’s no wrong answer. It’s exquisite regardless. But for now…

“Spooning me, please. I want to feel…safe. Wrapped in you.”

With a growl, he shifts, knowing exactly what I want. Behind me, he lifts my top leg to put one of his between, hand squeezing every inch of me he can touch. His bicep becomes my perfect pillow, and his forearm is long enough that he can strum my clit as he picks up his pace.

He’s got me trapped, and instead of feeling stifled and panicked, I feel cherished and grounded. Nothing else matters as long as I have Misha’s arms around me. And his dick inside me.

It’s no time at all before I’m fluttering around him, whining when the pressure on my clit threatens the edge of pain instead of pleasure.

“Such a greedy girl, aren’t you? I’ve fucked you all day, never let my cock slip out of you, and you still want more. It’s impossible to be greedy for what’s all yours, though, darling. And every piece of me is yours. I exist at your command. Do you want to come for me again? One more time for my sweet girl?”

I’m powerless against him, and he follows me into bliss again, wrapping his arms around me even tighter, as if he’ll never let me go.